Nitrous Oxide

I visited a periodontist today for a gum graft. I have had gum surgery before, and it was hard to think about going through it again. This time the pain at the tooth drove me to the dentist, and I was glad that he opened his office on this snowy day to take care of it, since it has been hurting for 2 months. When we set this up, the assistant offered me nitrous oxide, for a nominal $50 charge, during the procedure. I initially balked, first at the $50, and second at the idea that I was not brave enough to face the procedure fully awake. We talked about the benefits of it a little bit. Ever since I have had to deal with cancer, I have taken off the mask of the persona of the stoic, surgery by surgery. Referring to my last post, I have decided that I have nothing to prove. The strangers at the dentist office are not judging me. The nurse in the preop room, pushing Versed, is not judging me. The nurse in the recovery room, pushing morphine, is not judging me. Adjunct medicine is there for me, not to test my stoicism, but to provide relief from the anxiety and pain that come from needles and scalpels and sutures. So I agreed to the nitrous. It was $50 well spent.